Mid Lake Reef

[GLF Mobile]

There is a reef in the middle of Lake Michigan, approximately 42 miles out of Muskegon.

Does anyone know the name of this reef?

[Sea-Mac]

I think they just call it Mid Lake Plateau. Least thats what its called on all the l.mich. bathymetry maps. Searched a little for ya and some call it the Milwaukee reef. I dunno.

[fishsniffer]

i did read a while back that they were thinking of putting a wind farm there...that would be fun...trolling around wind turbines:eek:

[GLF]

Has any member here every fished it?

[HitMan]

It's most used name is the Mid-Lake Reef complex. This houses the Sheboygan reef, the Northeast reef, the Milwaukee reef, and the East reef. It can not be fished because it is a spawning sanctuary for Lake Trout. It has tight refuge areas, which begin as soon as you enter the Wisconsin fishing waters. The reef is not in Michigan waters.

Here is a link to the map of the reef: http://dnr.wi.gov/fish/images/refuge1.gif

Hope this helps!

[GLF]

I saw on a charter fishing website, that they offered a charter fishing trip to the reef. They must be fishing in the Michigan waters.

[salmonquest]

I saw the same thing. It mentioned 42mi that seems like a long run unless the fishing is Fantastic.

[A-Fishy-Anado]

It is a VERY long run! this is just a few miles short of what it takes us to get to stannard rock....and it can be a wicked ride!!!!!

[Paulywood]

It is my understanding that you can fish it, just not target or have in your possession lake trout. The Wisconsin guys fish it during tournaments sometimes.

[1mainiac]

The refuge is off limits to Lake Trout fishing but is listed as open water for other species on the map I looked at. All it says is no Lake Trout is one heck of a long run would be close to 40 gal of gas run time alone in my boat to get there and back I fished it a couple of times back in the early 80's when I had more time and money to fish but in a tourney you would need a darn fast boat just to get there and back let alone do any fishing there. We had a 25 ft Carver back then and would leave the dock at 2 am and depending on weather would set lines between 4:30 and 5 am. Made for a long day of fishingCause we would often troll most of the way back. I can remember trolling for close to 12 hours one time and still had a decent run to get back to Grand Haven.

[GLF]

JULY is a great time for a good mixed bag and very consistent action. Some of the best Chinook Salmon fishing on Lake Michigan occurs in Milwaukee during July. This is also the ideal time to fish the Mid-Lake Reef Complex off Milwaukee for Trophy Steelhead, with the extended 7-hour extended offshore steelhead trip.

I copied this from a Wisconsin charter fishing website. I realize this is a sales line, but there probably are some nice steelhead there.

[Lion Den]

I know someone that got in a little trouble for fishing that reef. He had no fish, but they tracked him on radar and caught up with him when he returned. Don't know the penalty.

[GLF]

I know someone that got in a little trouble for fishing that reef. He had no fish, but they tracked him on radar and caught up with him when he returned. Don't know the penalty.

I was checking out the reef on my chart plotter on Saturday. It shows a military training zone over most of the reef. Perhaps this is what they were in????

[spoonfed]

I must have been close to that out of Ludington last year! We went 46 miles out chasing cold water, and we were in the live fire test zone! Didnt catch many fish though, just $400 in fuel